<p>Coeliac disease (CD) is a gluten intolerance condition that results in the flattening of the villi, which line the bowel. It is the most common cause of malabsorption of food nutrients. This inability to absorb sufficient levels of nutrients causes many of the common symptoms experienced by CD patients. Some of the symptoms, which lead to an increase in mortality rate, include chronic diarrhea, fatigue, iron-deficient anemia and osteoporosis. People with CD have higher than normal levels of certain antibodies in their blood. Thus, the concentration of anti-transglutaminase antibody (anti-tTG) in human sera is an important analytical marker for the diagnosis of CD. An immunosensor is a type of biosensor that has an antigen or antibody fragment as its biological recognition component. The specificity of the molecular recognition of antigens by antibodies to form a stable complex is the basis of immunosensor technology. In this work, overoxidized polypyrrole (OvoxPpy) was electrosynthesized as a noval sensor platform on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The OvoxPpy was then doped with gold-nanoparticles (GNP) by electrodeposition using cyclic voltammetry to form GNP|OvoxPpy||GCE electrode system. Morphology and size of the GNP|OvoxPpy||GCE nanocomposite were determined using scanning electron microscopy. The electrochemical immunosensor for anti-tTG antibodies was prepared by immobilizing transglutaminase antigen (tTG-antigen) onto the GNP|OvoxPpy||GCE by drop coating and allowed to incubate for 2 hrs. The electrochemical characterization of the nanocomposite platform and immunosensor were studied by voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)...</p>

<p>Coeliac disease (CD) is a gluten intolerance condition that results in the flattening of the villi, which line the bowel. It is the most common cause of malabsorption of food nutrients. This inability to absorb sufficient levels of nutrients causes many of the common symptoms experienced by CD patients. Some of the symptoms, which lead to an increase in mortality rate, include chronic diarrhea, fatigue, iron-deficient anemia and osteoporosis. People with CD have higher than normal levels of certain antibodies in their blood. Thus, the concentration of anti-transglutaminase antibody (anti-tTG) in human sera is an important analytical marker for the diagnosis of CD. An immunosensor is a type of biosensor that has an antigen or antibody fragment as its biological recognition component. The specificity of the molecular recognition of antigens by antibodies to form a stable complex is the basis of immunosensor technology. In this work, overoxidized polypyrrole (OvoxPpy) was electrosynthesized as a noval sensor platform on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The OvoxPpy was then doped with gold-nanoparticles (GNP) by electrodeposition using cyclic voltammetry to form GNP|OvoxPpy||GCE electrode system. Morphology and size of the GNP|OvoxPpy||GCE nanocomposite were determined using scanning electron microscopy. The electrochemical immunosensor for anti-tTG antibodies was prepared by immobilizing transglutaminase antigen (tTG-antigen) onto the GNP|OvoxPpy||GCE by drop coating and allowed to incubate for 2 hrs. The electrochemical characterization of the nanocomposite platform and immunosensor were studied by voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)...</p>

Magister Scientiae - MSc / Coeliac disease (CD) is a gluten intolerance condition that results in the flattening of the villi, which line the bowel. It is the most common cause of malabsorption of food nutrients. This inability to absorb sufficient levels of nutrients causes many of the common symptoms experienced by CD patients. Some of the symptoms, which lead to an increase in mortality rate, include chronic diarrhea, fatigue, iron-deficient anemia and osteoporosis. People with CD have higher than normal levels of certain antibodies in their blood. Thus, the concentration of anti-transglutaminase antibody (anti-tTG) in human sera is an important analytical marker for the diagnosis of CD. An immunosensor is a type of biosensor that has an antigen or antibody fragment as its biological recognition component. The specificity of the molecular recognition of antigens by antibodies to form a stable complex is the basis of immunosensor technology. In this work, overoxidized polypyrrole (OvoxPpy) was electrosynthesized as a noval sensor platform on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The OvoxPpy was then doped with gold-nanoparticles (GNP) by electrodeposition using cyclic voltammetry to form GNP|OvoxPpy||GCE electrode system. Morphology and size of the GNP|OvoxPpy||GCE nanocomposite were determined using scanning electron microscopy. The electrochemical immunosensor for anti-tTG antibodies was prepared by immobilizing transglutaminase antigen (tTG-antigen) onto the GNP|OvoxPpy||GCE by drop coating and allowed to incubate for 2 hrs. The electrochemical characterization of the nanocomposite platform and immunosensor were studied by voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Charge transfer resistance, Rct (obtained from EIS data fitting) of [Fe (CN)6]3-/4- redox probe was used as the analytical parameter for measuring the interfacial kinetics which occurred as a result of the bio-recognition event (affinitive binding) between the tTG-antigen and anti-tTG antibody. Rct was found to increase with increased concentration of the antibody as a result of the reluctance to the flow of redox probe charge across the interface. Antibody concentration as low as in 1:4000 dilutions was detected. / South Africa

The Late Archean Magmatic Event (LAME), ca. 2.7 Ga, was the greatest crustal addition event in Earth history. My focus is the Superior Province of Canada, where LAME occurred ca. 2.75 – 2.65 Ga. Mantle plumes impinged on the Abitibi subprovince, where ~ 16 km regional thickness of tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) melt was produced. Granites (sensu stricto) were the last magmatic phase of LAME, with a Superior-wide regional thickness of ~ 1 – 3 km. Assuming a crustal source for both TTG and granites, I use 1-D thermal models to investigate the origin of TTG in the Abitibi subprovince and that of late granites in the Superior Province. Melting curves appropriate to the source of TTG and granites are used to determine the thickness of melt produced in the models. I show that the incorporation of upward melt transfer into a standard model of lower crustal melting may increase the amount of predicted melt by ~ 1/(1-f), where f denotes the fraction of melt that is on average being extracted from the source rocks. Partitioning of heat producing elements between melt and restite reduces the amount of melt produced, but the effect is secondary compared to the increase in melt production through upward melt transfer. For the Abitibi subprovince, I show that the emplacement of a single plume coupled with the emplacement of a 12-km-thick greenstone cover can generate a maximum of ~ 9-km-thickness of TTG melt. However, the emplacement of a series of plumes, each coupled with the emplacement of a 3-km-thick greenstone cover and a 10-km-thick sill results in ~ 20-km-thickness of TTG melt. My model incorporates delamination of restitic eclogite. Finally, I show that late granites in the Superior Province may have resulted from thickening of a crust that had been “pre-heated” during earlier arc activity and that prolonged granitic magmatism observed in some areas of the Superior Province may be explained by late underthrusting of fertile source rocks into deeper and hotter regions of the crust.

The Late Archean Magmatic Event (LAME), ca. 2.7 Ga, was the greatest crustal addition event in Earth history. My focus is the Superior Province of Canada, where LAME occurred ca. 2.75 – 2.65 Ga. Mantle plumes impinged on the Abitibi subprovince, where ~ 16 km regional thickness of tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) melt was produced. Granites (sensu stricto) were the last magmatic phase of LAME, with a Superior-wide regional thickness of ~ 1 – 3 km. Assuming a crustal source for both TTG and granites, I use 1-D thermal models to investigate the origin of TTG in the Abitibi subprovince and that of late granites in the Superior Province. Melting curves appropriate to the source of TTG and granites are used to determine the thickness of melt produced in the models. I show that the incorporation of upward melt transfer into a standard model of lower crustal melting may increase the amount of predicted melt by ~ 1/(1-f), where f denotes the fraction of melt that is on average being extracted from the source rocks. Partitioning of heat producing elements between melt and restite reduces the amount of melt produced, but the effect is secondary compared to the increase in melt production through upward melt transfer. For the Abitibi subprovince, I show that the emplacement of a single plume coupled with the emplacement of a 12-km-thick greenstone cover can generate a maximum of ~ 9-km-thickness of TTG melt. However, the emplacement of a series of plumes, each coupled with the emplacement of a 3-km-thick greenstone cover and a 10-km-thick sill results in ~ 20-km-thickness of TTG melt. My model incorporates delamination of restitic eclogite. Finally, I show that late granites in the Superior Province may have resulted from thickening of a crust that had been “pre-heated” during earlier arc activity and that prolonged granitic magmatism observed in some areas of the Superior Province may be explained by late underthrusting of fertile source rocks into deeper and hotter regions of the crust.